Video: Escalation in the Middle East Appears Imminent: The Axis of Resistance on the Offensive. Or Not?

By South Front
Global Research, March 02, 2021
South Front 1 March 2021
Region:
Theme:
In-depth Report:

All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version).

***

Escalation in the Middle East appears imminent, due to various incidents that took place throughout the reigon.

On February 25th, the Israeli-owned vehicle carrying vessel – MV Helios Ray was rocked by a heavy explosion, but didn’t sink. According to the owner of the vessel, it wasn’t known what had struck the Helios Ray, but likely it was “missiles or a mine placed on the bow.” It took two days of investigation to reach an obvious conclusion – Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Iran had carried out the attack.

Israeli TV reported that the assessment claimed that the Iranian navy had fired two missiles at the Israeli-flagged ship. Israeli Experts were allegedly on the way to the UAE, where the ship was anchored. There is no confirmation nor denial from Iran, as of yet, but Israel is already using this presumed attack for a potential escalation.

In recent weeks, Tel Aviv has been pushing to form a military security pact with Gulf States against Tehran. While having its interests targeted in the Gulf of Oman, Israel is still carrying out its usual activity towards Syria, and immediately responded to the alleged Iranian aggression.

On February 28th, Syrian air defense forces over Damascus were activated to repel an Israeli attack, launched from above the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Israeli Air Force likely targeted alleged Iranian targets, but Israel provided no comment on the matter.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel was taking action “almost weekly” to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria. However, this is not just any action, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again claimed that Israel “was winning the war” against Iran.

Another informal Israeli ally – Saudi Arabia is currently suffering at the hands of the Axis of Resistance.

Yemen’s Ansar Allah – the Houthis – announced that their Air Force had carried out a large-scale operation in the Kingdom on February 28th. The operation, dubbed “Deterrent Balance 5,” targeted military positions in Riyadh. In total, a spokesman for the Houthis, said that a Zulfiqar ballistic missile, nine Samad-3 loitering munitions, and six Qasef-2K drones struck a network of Saudi military positions. This was likely in response to Saudi Arabia’s increased airstrike activity.

A February 28th warplane raid left 5 civilians, including a woman and a child dead. In Yemen, on the ground the fight is continuing in the Marib district.

Marib City and the Dam are currently beyond reach, and Saudi Arabia carries out increasingly more airstrikes and violations of the al-Hudaydah ceasefire. There are heavy clashes between the Ansar Allah and Saudi-led forces in the Talaat al-Hamra, Hamajira and Balaq mountains, with the Houthis purportedly taking the upper hand.

The situation is reaching a critical point, with the Axis of Resistance attempting to push on the US, Israel and their other allies on all fronts.

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

SUPPORT SOUTHFRONT:

PayPal: [email protected], http://southfront.org/donate/ or via: https://www.patreon.com/southfront
Articles by: South Front

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]